Soulmates
by candieclouds
Summary: "No. I want you alive. Don't let me die in vain, Kiku." he insisted, coughing up what looked like another pint of blood after. I couldn't believe he would tell me such a thing at the time, but I should have known better. It was something he would say, and this was something he would do. "You can go on without me." AmeriPan


It ended with a gunshot.

In a matter of speaking I suppose it actually began with the gunshot's siren, the rain beating against the once dry earth beneath our feet and the sounds of engines roaring in the distance. They were far away, but their aim was on point and Alfred went down as soon as it hit him. It was seconds, but as I watched with both tears and rainwater dripping from my eyelashes and into my eyes, my entire body trembling and the ringing in my ears being all I could hear besides the shot at that moment the scene was in slow motion.

The Hero fell before my eyes. Under my watch and supervision. The one I'd made a promise to stay with forever.

We were always together. Always. Since that day, which I prefer not to name, which seems like eons ago he took me into his arms and told me he would protect me until the day he died. Seeing him fall to his knees and clutching his chest I was in denial that this moment had finally come and that the bond between us would be severed.

Everything was in slow motion. It was making me sick.

I shook my body to try and overcome this sensation, blinking rabidly after wiping my eyes with the edge of my sleeve to bring myself back to a normal pace.

With one last loud groan Alfred landed face first into the dirt and my body moved to him without my consent.

I picked him up from his position on the ground, pulling his nearly lifeless and blood coated body into my lap and holding him. Was hardly grasping him, he was so fragile then, unlike I had ever seen him before and it made things move slowly again. I never imagined a day that I would be more powerful than him, but here it was. He lay limp looking up at me with his once vivacious blue eyes dulled and glazed over, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth as he went into a fit of coughing. He moaned in pain every time; it probably hurt his bullet penetrated lung to hack up all of that blood.

"Don't cry..." he spat between his coughs, clinging to me. "Please don't cry, Kiku."

I wasn't aware I was crying until he said this. I wasn't really aware of the severity of the situation at all, actually; I was in denial and shock. Everything but Alfred was blurry...

He clutched my waist with such an intense grimace, like he was holding onto me so tightly I should have had the wind knocked out of me. But he was so weak then it felt like an infant latching onto my finger. It was like holding a small piece of glass that was stretched out to such a thin film if I moved the wrong way he would shatter.

I looked down at myself and realized I was covered in so much blood Alfred would surely die in a matter of moments. I could see a bit of his collar bone poking out of his uniform, blood spewing from the area that the bullet implanted itself in.

"A-Alfred..." I said hopelessly, any hint of emotion gone from my tone. If Alfred was dying, I was, too.

"I love you." he responded meekly, his grip diminishing entirely. It was like my heart stopped beating altogether. I would die with him. We would die in each other's arms and be together in the after life. I looked to my right at my own weapon, the blade's gleam illuminated by the stampeding rain and reflecting into Alfred's eyes as he followed my gaze. "Oh no you don't."

"Alfred, I _need_you." I said shakily, biting my lip as another set of tears stung the back of my eyes. "I will do soon after you-"

"I was protecting y-you, Keeks, th-that's why they shot me... I died protecting you."

"Yes, my love... you're my hero, Alfred-kun. And we will die together." I whimpered, gently touching the side of his face and pulling away to see the blood staining my finger tips. I wiped them off on the only area of my shirt that wasn't already wet near my collar and brushed some of the hair out of his eyes, leaning down to kiss him, but he turned away with a cry of pain.

"No. I want you alive. Don't let me die in vain, Kiku." he insisted, coughing up what looked like another pint of blood after. I couldn't believe he would tell me such a thing at the time, but I should have known better. It was something he would say, and this was something he would do. "You can go on without me."

"_No I can't_. I love you, I-I n-need you, I-"

His eyelids began fluttering like he was falling asleep, so naturally I panicked. I shook my head and leaned down, pressing our foreheads together.

"Alfred, please let me-"

"Live in my honour. Remember me and tell your kids about me if you want. Let me be your hero."

"I would _never_ have children that weren't with you and you know it!" I spat out quickly, peppering his face with kisses to try and keep him with me. "You're dying so there isn't any point. I won't go on without you, I_ can't._"

"Yes, you will. You will because I said you will and-" his voice was fading away and I clenched my hands into fists like I was trying to grab it and drag it back. I kissed his blood stained neck and rested my head against it, sobbing like a child. "a-and..."

"Alfred please I am begging you let us die together. Let's never part let's be together forever." I sounded like a lunatic, my eyes wide, staring down at him. He was smiling faintly, his head trailing off to the side, his gaze shooting up to the sky.

"I love you, baby. I'll be watching over you."

"Alfred don't do this to me please, please, _please_ don't do this-"

"T-tell me you love me, too..." he demanded, his voice cracking and his smile fading for a fraction of a moment. "Just one last time."

"I love you more than anything, Alfred." I cried between clenched teeth. He chuckled lightly, his cheeks pale but still noticeably enough, he was blushing. I couldn't believe he was blushing.

"Awesome." and with that he closed his eyes.

I could have been hallucinating from grief, but then I looked around us and saw a red ribbon. It looked like it was long enough to cover the entire continent, overlapping in a pile in our area hundreds and hundreds of times. I followed to wear the ribbons led and was greeted by our hands, our fingers laced together still even though Alfred was surely passed on. The ribbons were wrapped around them.

I closed my eyes. When I opened them the ribbon slowly began to disintegrate piece by piece. It took a good few minutes until it was down to a small portion of it. It finally reached our hands and I cupped my other hand over it, silently begging that it would stay if I did. But when I removed my hand it was gone.

My Hero had fallen. My soul mate was gone.

As of that day I had no soul of my own. It had died with him.


End file.
